Headline Inflation in Nigeria Registers Slight Dip to 15.39% for August 2026

Nigeria's overall inflation rate saw a modest decline in August 2026, reaching 15.39 percent. This figure represents a slight reduction from the 15.43 percent recorded in July of the same year. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this shift in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, highlighting a 0.04 percent decrease when compared to the preceding month.

Examining the month-on-month trends, the headline inflation rate for August settled at 0.71 percent. This marks a notable drop of 0.86 percent from the 1.57 percent documented in July, signifying that the general price level experienced a slower pace of increase during the month.

The food inflation rate, calculated on a year-on-year basis, stood at 19.57 percent in August 2026. This indicates a substantial decrease from the 25.30 percent observed in the identical period of the previous year. On a month-on-month comparison, food inflation also reduced significantly to 1.02 percent, a decrease of 4.55 percentage points from the 5.56 percent reported in July.

This moderation in food prices was primarily attributed to reduced costs across various essential food items. These included staples such as palm oil, carrots, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, water yam, melon (egusi), fresh ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, wheat grain, frozen chicken, and turkey meat.

Geographically, Adamawa State recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation at 38.85 percent, followed closely by Zamfara at 37.96 percent and Bayelsa at 36.20 percent. Conversely, Borno State experienced a deflationary trend at -4.04 percent, with Jigawa also seeing a negative increase at -0.23 percent, and Kebbi recording a relatively low increase of 3.47 percent.

For month-on-month food inflation, Katsina State led with 9.48 percent, trailed by Rivers State at 8.86 percent and Osun State at 8.32 percent. In contrast, Taraba State saw the slowest growth with a negative rate of -12.42 percent, alongside Borno State at -12.15 percent, and Bauchi State at -8.88 percent.